On April 1, 2025, I published my inaugural Substack titled “Criterion Mobile Closet, Please Come to LA, I Beg of You.” In the post, I pleaded with the distribution company to head west and listed the three DVDs that I was hoping to snag. (Spoiler alert: Got ‘em!)

And 26 days later, that beautiful white delivery truck parked itself in front of Vidiots, a renowned Los Angeles film space, for a 2-day pop-up, and I’ve never been more thrilled to stand outside for 7 hours. The power of cinema, bb! 

I’m not an influencer, so you’ll probably find way more polished pics and videos on Instagram and TikTok — hauls, interior truck shots, intimate shots of Vidiots, etc. 

But what I can offer is an insightful walkthrough of this glorious day in Danger Bowie history. 

The Wait

As a Los Angeles native, I’ve been blessed to experience some cool film and TV events throughout my life, but there’s always one catch: long lines.

Since this was the final day of a two-day pop-up, I knew the wait would be egregious. To avoid spending an entire day in line, I decided to meet my friend at the location at 5:30 a.m., while it was still dark. We wouldn’t be the first, but we’d at least be early. 

Well, as you know, the best laid plans of mice and men go awry, but I did find a super-close parking space across the street. I really thought I beat the game when I walked up and saw that no one was there yet. 

Until a security guard let us know we couldn’t line up until 7:30 a.m. 

Now, it would’ve been great to know this info beforehand, but you gotta be able to pivot, and coffee is never too far away.

So, we hit up a local coffee shop, and when we came back, and *big sigh*—an 80-person deep impromptu line had already formed across the street. I was gagged.

We reluctantly joined the fake line and chatted nonstop about movies and TV, and at 7:30 a.m, the security guards started herding us across the street to form the official line.

Forty minutes later, we got some great news: the Criterion crew would be opening the truck at 9 a.m. instead of 11 a.m. to get more people inside. Major props to them, especially since they’d be working from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to make our film nerd dreams come true.

Elite Line Management and Customer Service

Given the fact that this is only the fourth time that Criterion has hosted a mobile event like this, I was shooketh by the attention to detail, people management and customer service.

Every attendee received a free Criterion tote, a map featuring all of the DVD selections in the closet, a Criterion button and a free 30-day subscription to the Criterion Channel. (🙌🏾)

On top of that, Criterion and Vidiot employees handed out boxed water, baby oranges, mini bags of freshly made popcorn and sunscreen(!) throughout the 7 hours I stood in line. 

Every 10 minutes or so, a Criterion employee would move down the line, touching base with us about the wait, and engaging us with questions about our favorite films, and allowing us to ask questions about the organization.

I learned that the bulk of the Criterion employees at the event had been with the company for decades, and one even partnered with filmmakers, like Devil in a Blue Dress director Carl Franklin, for the rollout of their DVDs. 

And there was trivia with prizes! (Gah, I love me some film trivia.) I answered a simple question about Deep Cover and won a gorgeous book of postcards featuring some dope ass Criterion dvd covers. (pictured below).

A 7-hour wait went by in a flash thanks to their consideration and organization.

Inside the Closet

As you get closer to the closet, things get real. The nerves hit, your mind goes blank, and you start second-guessing your selections, which were 1000% locked in for the past 6 hours. 

I’ve never seen Vengeance Is Mine, so should I swap it with a tried-and-true selection like Malcolm X or Nanny? Decisions, decisions, decisions!

As we inched closer to our destiny, a new line manager would pop up every 3 minutes, asking about our picks and if we had any questions. At this point, it’s hard to even remember what a DVD is, let alone what you wanted.

Finally, my group—me, my friend and two other film lovers we met in line—get escorted to the entrance (aka, the back of the truck). And it’s showtime. 

We slowly step inside that magical mobile closet, and cue heavenly chorus.

They let you mount your phone to record your visit, and one of the people in our group decided to take them up on that (more on that in a sec). After a quick set of instructions, the timer starts, and you’ve got a few minutes to grab your DVDs, discuss your selections on camera (if you’re brave) and pose for a free commemorative Polaroid.

I rewatched the video, and let me tell you, there’s this slack-jawed, deer-in-the-headlights look on my face the whole time. If you want to see that footage, you’re gonna need to blackmail me and it won’t be cheap.

The inside of that truck felt like a portal to another dimension—somewhere between reality and the final scene in Interstellar, but with an endless wall of DVDs instead of books. Honestly, it was as close to an out-of-body experience as you can get for a cinephile. 

After getting your Polaroid, you’re ushered into Vidiots to make your purchase. Now, for the uninitiated, Vidiots is a legendary film haven where you can rent or buy DVDs, or attend screenings in their cool new theater. That afternoon, they were showing Fellini’s 8 ½, but after a 7-hour wait, I was ready to head home, eat some lunch and reflect on my experience from the comfort of my couch.

The truck will be back June 6–7 for a 2-day pop-up in Santa Monica, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t considering going back for Round Two. 

All in all, I’ll remember this event forever and I’m super grateful to Vidiots and Criterion for making this film nerd’s dream come true!